Colorado woman loses job after sharing salary on TikTok

TikToker Lexi Larson, who shared both her expenses and her salary for new new job in Denver on her Tik Tok account, has been fired from her job.

Larson shared details of her $20,000 pay rise along with a $449 increase in the taxes she has to pay.

“How much my paychecks increased when I went from $70k to $90k per year #paycheckbreakdown #salarytransparency #paytransparency,” Larson says on TikTok. The video garnered 187,900 views and 3277 likes, CBS News reported.

Larson alleged that she was fired two weeks into her new job as a result of her TikTok video. “So TikTok got me fired,” Larson stated in a follow-up video. “A couple of weeks ago I started sharing how I got a job in the tech industry… Um, well I don’t work that job anymore because I got laid off.”

Larson believes that it was her sharing her pay details that got her fired, despite her being proteted under National Labor Relations Act, which permits employees within the same company to talk about their salaries.

“[My managers] implied that other people at the company were not paid as much. They didn’t want people to know that. It was a phone call. I have no paper record of that,” said Larson.

Larson said her intent was not to boast, but to encourage others to believe in themselves. “A lot of people commented saying, ‘you’re just bragging, you just want people to think you make a lot of money’ or something like that. I was posting my salary back when I wasn’t making very much at all,” said Larson. “I just wanted to let people know that it’s doable and it’s not out of reach for the average person.”

Larson also said she was initially headhunted by the company who have since dismissed her. Larson said she called her old manager back ‘sobbing’ and they offered to re-instate her back into her previous position, albeit earning less than her other job.

Speaking to CBS4’s Tori Mason, Senator Jessie Danielson (D-CO) said that employees should not be punished for talking about their salary or working conditions.

Since January 2021, employers in Colorado have been mandated to include a salary range with every job posting under the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, which was co-sponsored by Danielson.

“This act is translating into a more fair workplace, better compensation and equal treatment for women all across the state. Pay transparency is a huge part of that,” said Danielson.

“I’ve heard from a number of women who have come to me and said, ‘If it weren’t for this new law, I would not have known about this new advancement opportunity. I got a promotion and a raise only because of this new law that requires employers to make this information public,’” Danielson went onto say.

Larson’s employer confirmed that they terminated her contract as they deemed her videos to be a security concern.